Developers Tina Anderson and Sherry Webb were both students in Marquette University's Associates in Commercial Real Estate, or ACRE, program, which trained minority students for commercial real estate careers.

As a class project, Anderson and Webb found the site, and consulted with Department of City Development officials to make sure the proposal followed the city's neighborhood plan. They also met with an architect and general contractor to create detailed cost estimates.

Once the class ended, Anderson and Webb talked to their instructor, developer Bob Lemke, about joining them in pursuing the project outside the classroom.

About $5 million of the project's financing was raised by obtaining federal tax credits that are given to developers who build affordable apartments for lower income renters. Developers typically sell the credits to investors to raise equity capital, and then obtain much of their remaining financing through loans.

The credits were provided through the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, a state agency. The developers sold the credits through an affiliate of the nonprofit Local Initiatives Support Corp. to JPMorgan Chase Bank, which also provided a construction loan. Additional financing included state and federal grants.